Canyon GPS draining battery?

[Arcerhawk]

Hello everyone,

I have a Spectral ON model 2023 with the GPS localization thing.

My battery is draining when the bike is parked and the battery connector is attached. About 10% battery in a month (I know beacause I had it at an lbs for a straight month for a warranty repair on the fork)
It doesn't if I disconnect the cable.

My thinking is that it could be the GPS module (you can see a blinking led from the top of the bike when the battery is connected).
Is there anyway to turn this module off to check?

By the way, I personally find it useless as it updates the location of the bike randomly if the bike isn't turned on, going days parked in the shed with no updates to its location (the location is stationary, but the date of the location doesn't update for days).

thanks
Marco

 

[buzbyjnr]

I just logged the same issue with my 2024 Canyon Spectral:On (and have very quickly recieved an e-mail from them regarding a battery recall). ..... could never get the Canyon App to work in Ireland.

​ With this mail we would like to inform you about a safety notice for the battery of your Spectral:ON CF / CFR and Torque:ON CF. According to our records you have purchased a bike from us which includes the affected battery with the model numbers BT0001, BT0002, BT0003 and BT0004. Batteries at Canyon E Bikes are sourced from reputable companies and tested to meet or exceed industry standards. We regret all the more, that in small numbers damages to the housing might occur, like cracks or gaps. This could lead to moisture ingress within the battery that, in very rare cases potentially triggers a short-circuit that can bypass the fail-safe protection mechanisms within the battery. We cannot exclude that the battery might catch on fire resulting in a risk of personal injury or damage to property. We therefore instruct you to please stop use immediately of the affected battery in your bike and do not charge the battery.​

​ Please disassemble the battery from the bike and visually inspect the housing for any potential damages, like cracks or gaps:​ _ If you detect any potential damages in the housing, we take back the batteries at our Canyon Factory Service locations in Germany (Koblenz), Belgium (Rotselaar), Netherlands (Eindhoven), Spain (Tres Cantos/Madrid) and USA (Carlsbad). Otherwise, dispose of the battery in accordance with local legal requirements. Please stick to these requirements and under no circumstances should you put the battery in the household waste or incinerate it. _ If you haven’t detected any failures in the housing, reinstall the battery to the bike, but do not use it! Within the upcoming 4 weeks, we will reach out to you again to inform you about the next steps to bring you back to riding your bike.​

 

[Arcerhawk]

I just logged the same issue with my 2024 Canyon Spectral:On (and have very quickly recieved an e-mail from them regarding a battery recall). ..... could never get the Canyon App to work in Ireland.

​ With this mail we would like to inform you about a safety notice for the battery of your Spectral:ON CF / CFR and Torque:ON CF. According to our records you have purchased a bike from us which includes the affected battery with the model numbers BT0001, BT0002, BT0003 and BT0004. Batteries at Canyon E Bikes are sourced from reputable companies and tested to meet or exceed industry standards. We regret all the more, that in small numbers damages to the housing might occur, like cracks or gaps. This could lead to moisture ingress within the battery that, in very rare cases potentially triggers a short-circuit that can bypass the fail-safe protection mechanisms within the battery. We cannot exclude that the battery might catch on fire resulting in a risk of personal injury or damage to property. We therefore instruct you to please stop use immediately of the affected battery in your bike and do not charge the battery.​

​ Please disassemble the battery from the bike and visually inspect the housing for any potential damages, like cracks or gaps:​ _ If you detect any potential damages in the housing, we take back the batteries at our Canyon Factory Service locations in Germany (Koblenz), Belgium (Rotselaar), Netherlands (Eindhoven), Spain (Tres Cantos/Madrid) and USA (Carlsbad). Otherwise, dispose of the battery in accordance with local legal requirements. Please stick to these requirements and under no circumstances should you put the battery in the household waste or incinerate it. _ If you haven’t detected any failures in the housing, reinstall the battery to the bike, but do not use it! Within the upcoming 4 weeks, we will reach out to you again to inform you about the next steps to bring you back to riding your bike.​

I just received the same email, so I don't think it has to do with your complaint.
Nice to know I won't be using my bike for at least 4 weeks

 

[whitymon]

Tons of issue on this custom battery. I hope they will never ever do custom batteries ... (even if it is not really them)

 

[buzbyjnr]

was the main reason i bought the bike, 900w/hr battery range. (wonder if they will give me a full refund for an Amflow.... )

 

[whitymon]

Yeah I get it, but this is also a nightmare for people through warranty and people out of warranty that would want a new one.
Out of disrespect really, I agree they can have internal issue and/witth the battery manufacturer but at the very least I hope they would give a huge discount for people out of a bike due to this but let's be honest, this will never happen.

 

[Zed.]

I just logged the same issue with my 2024 Canyon Spectral:On (and have very quickly recieved an e-mail from them regarding a battery recall). ..... could never get the Canyon App to work in Ireland.

​ With this mail we would like to inform you about a safety notice for the battery of your Spectral:ON CF / CFR and Torque:ON CF. According to our records you have purchased a bike from us which includes the affected battery with the model numbers BT0001, BT0002, BT0003 and BT0004. Batteries at Canyon E Bikes are sourced from reputable companies and tested to meet or exceed industry standards. We regret all the more, that in small numbers damages to the housing might occur, like cracks or gaps. This could lead to moisture ingress within the battery that, in very rare cases potentially triggers a short-circuit that can bypass the fail-safe protection mechanisms within the battery. We cannot exclude that the battery might catch on fire resulting in a risk of personal injury or damage to property. We therefore instruct you to please stop use immediately of the affected battery in your bike and do not charge the battery.​

​ Please disassemble the battery from the bike and visually inspect the housing for any potential damages, like cracks or gaps:​ _ If you detect any potential damages in the housing, we take back the batteries at our Canyon Factory Service locations in Germany (Koblenz), Belgium (Rotselaar), Netherlands (Eindhoven), Spain (Tres Cantos/Madrid) and USA (Carlsbad). Otherwise, dispose of the battery in accordance with local legal requirements. Please stick to these requirements and under no circumstances should you put the battery in the household waste or incinerate it. _ If you haven’t detected any failures in the housing, reinstall the battery to the bike, but do not use it! Within the upcoming 4 weeks, we will reach out to you again to inform you about the next steps to bring you back to riding your bike.​

I've just had the same email (also seen it reported on an fb group)

I have a Torque:ON with the '04 battery (900wh) so no gps problems that I'm aware

I'm off the bike due to injury so not that much of an inconvienience to me BUT I can understand it might cause problems to others

Rich.

 

[whitymon]

Yeah we were all waiting for something from Canyon.

My guess is that they finally get a solution or at least a plan.

I really hope that they switch to Bosch asap

 

[Zed.]

I really hope that they switch to Bosch asap

I actually prefer the Shimano system - I've jumped from Bosch / my Trek Rail and think the Ep801 is a nicer motor than the CX

and you can get diagnostic stuff foe Shimano & Bosch hide theirs as dealer-only

Rich.

 

[Arcerhawk]

Yeah we were all waiting for something from Canyon.

What do you mean? What issues were there with these batteries? The only thing I noticed was the draining, but it doesn't seem the issue that Canyon is talking about.

 

[whitymon]

What do you mean? What issues were there with these batteries? The only thing I noticed was the draining, but it doesn't seem the issue that Canyon is talking about.

I mean that there are tons of issues with them: dead battery, bad battery (draining too fast), dangerous battery as of now - nothing new really and Canyon is aware of that for months.
No one knows the percentage of real faulty battery, as people only post when they complains but a global recall like the current one is kind of scary.

If you do not know, it is like good luck to get a new one currently/in the past - don't know past their point.

Out of warranty - you get nothing you could not buy one, period, still cannot. During warranty expect, from weeks, to several months as the batch for new battery seems to be very low or inexistent: pretty hard to figure out the truth and Canyon refuse to comment on that.

Still they continued to sell new bikes with these faulty batteries for months.

They just hoped, or fool us, that the bikes that are continuing to be sold do not have faulty battery - until 2 days ago they were still selling them from new to outlet. Now everything is frozen.

They might have face a legal claim or something like that or too much of them. Or, they just tried to sell as much as possible until nearly end of season - no offense here, speculations, without clear communication this is all we can do.

Communication from them about all of this is pretty bad and I have serious trust issue with them about that topic and they literally said to me everything was fine few weeks ago through support channel.

They at the moment do not provide any update on how they are going to fix it or when - let's hope their partner fixed the battery design

I might totally wrong about assumptions here, this is merely feelings and deduction, but it just does not feel right to me, and I really like all my Canyon bikes and still really wish to get a new Strive/Torque soon.

 

[vadII]

My thinking is that it could be the GPS module (you can see a blinking led from the top of the bike when the battery is connected).
Is there anyway to turn this module off to check?

This is not GPS module. This is a cellular communication module (mobile network). Each bike has it's own SIM. And all security functions of Canyon App implemented via the mobile network. This is why these features are not available outside of some European countries - their SIM cards are simply not serviced in other countries. Such a genius solution!
In most cases, stolen bikes end up in countries where Canyon SIM cards do not work...

 

[Backflip]

This is not GPS module.

Sure it is a GPS module (too)...
However additionally there is a 4G/LTE data communication module also included in this "GPS tracker" for transferring the current position (which is collected via GPS) to the CANYON service provider.
And "yes", this cellular data communication module includes an (E-)SIM - card.
Depending on the country you are living, mostly you will get this tracking service for your bike from CANYON free of charge for 1 year, and then mostly you have to pay a monthly fee if you want this tracking service being active (at least it was intended in that way from CANYON in 2023 in some PR statement)...
I am not sure if CANYON is handling the situation the same way currently.
But you are correct, in a lot of countries this gadget does not work at all due to the not matching network provider.

On an EP801 or EP6 you easily can disconnect this gadget via unplugging it from the CAN port (take care not to ruin the motor and best use the matching tool).
BTW.: On a lot of bikes this GPS tracker creates nasty (but minor) CAN - bus related errors in the error protocol of the motor.
On older EP800 bikes mostly the GPS tracker is connected to the light output of the motor.
Also an additional separate small backup battery mostly is used to make the tracker also work when the bike is not powered on (which for sure makes sense, because mostly a bike does not get stolen when its powered on with the biker on top).

 

[Backflip]

What do you mean? What issues were there with these batteries? The only thing I noticed was the draining, but it doesn't seem the issue that Canyon is talking about.

In case there is still somebody who does not know about the CANYON battery misery, see here the official statement from CANYON.